At Hearings, States, National Guard Appeal for Aid (for domestic disaster)

[DeepModem Mom]

At Hearings, States and National Guard Make Appeals for Aid
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: September 29, 2005


WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 - The National Guard has only a third of the equipment it needs to respond to domestic disasters and terrorist attacks and will need $7 billion to acquire the radios, trucks, construction machinery and medical gear required, the Guard's top commander told a Congressional committee on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said that after Hurricane Katrina, guardsmen using old radios were unable to talk to active-duty troops with the latest communications systems as they patrolled New Orleans.

General Blum said $1.3 billion was needed immediately. The chairmen of the Senate National Guard Caucus, Senators Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, and Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, wrote President Bush this month, urging him to include that amount in a supplemental spending bill.

General Blum said the problem had become acute as Guard units had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, taking the newest equipment with them and then leaving it there for replacement soldiers to use. That practice was wise, he said, but left the home front with an outdated and dwindling supply of gear, at best about 34 percent of what was needed....another issue arising from the hurricane response, President Bush's call for a discussion of whether the Pentagon should take the lead in responding to catastrophes, met with some skepticism. Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, said the proposal was being put forward only because the Bush administration had politicized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and downgraded it by merging it with the Department of Homeland Security.

"The president seems to think we'll use the Guard and Reserve in Iraq and the Army in Louisiana," Mr. Obey said, calling that approach "backward."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/national/nationalspecial/29guard.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. Oh Well, gatta pay the Piper sooner or later.......

Bush has been a disaster for America....spontaneous reactionary... no clear vision and no planning beyond his nose....

[rodeodance]

2. Obey is right--it is backward!

......Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, said the proposal was being put forward only because the Bush administration had politicized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and downgraded it by merging it with the Department of Homeland Security.

"The president seems to think we'll use the Guard and Reserve in Iraq and the Army in Louisiana," Mr. Obey said, calling that approach "backward."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/national/nationalspec...

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Indeed -- both backward, and stupid! nt

[dubyaD40web]

4. It's a good thing they're not in Iraq.

They don't have equipment either.